Search Results
-
Questions about Proportional Representation You Were Afraid to Ask
As the midterms approach, many American voters may be feeling disenchanted with American democracy. Some may wonder about the point of voting if politicians can gerrymander the districts and big donors can buy elections. While many can identify the bugs in the American system, voters might not know an upgrade is available. It’s called Proportional Representation, and the Canadians might beat Americans to it. What is Proportional Representation? Proportional representation...Read more » -
Canada Already has 100+ Years of History with Proportional Representation
In October 2018, BC voters will get a ballot asking them to choose between First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) and Proportional Representation (ProRep) voting methods. For some voters, this may be a new idea but it is one BC has considered for a long time. As early as the 1890s, voters were calling for ProRep. Voters usually become aware of the need for ProRep when the two dominant parties become less popular or...Read more » -
E-scooters Could Be One Way to Fund Better Protected Bike Lanes
Last month, I argued that the answer to problems of the e-scooter revolution will be bike lane infrastructure. And it makes sense for cities to charge hefty scooter fees—shared e-scooters seem to be extremely profitable due to indefinite public storage space—as long as the money gets reinvested in protected bike lanes. Last week, North America’s largest e-scooter startup, Bird, announced a voluntary plan to donate $1 per scooter, per day...Read more » -
Thanks to Comprehensive Street Design, Vancouver Sows for the Future
Editor’s note: This is Part 2 in a four-part series on how trees and plants help to slow traffic, ameliorate climate change impacts and make growing cities more livable. Read Part 1 here. When it comes to cultivating plants and walkability together, Vancouver, BC, over the last two decades has reaped a harvest of low-hanging fruit on its residential streets. Today, though, the city is looking to plow new ground...Read more » -
Jordan Cove Energy Project, LNG facility may harm water quality, salmon runs
Southern Oregon regulators, Native American tribes, and local communities are worried that a proposed fossil fuel facility will, among other chaos, pollute water resources and irreversibly damage wildlife populations. If approved, the Jordan Cove Energy Project would put a behemoth liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Coos Bay. The plan was believed to be dead in 2016 after federal regulators denied key permits, but the latest incarnation enjoys the...Read more » -
Trump Administration Pushes Jordan Cove Energy Project
It’s a project that refuses to die, despite efforts to keep it from moving forward. In 2016, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted unanimously to deny approval for the Jordan Cove Energy Project, an oversized fracked gas project proposed in a small town on the Oregon Coast. But less than six months after FERC issued the project its second defeat, a Trump administration official boldly announced, “The first...Read more » -
How Could Proportional Representation Work in the Washington Legislature?
As the introduction to this series noted, Washington’s constitution is notoriously difficult to amend. Which is why my previous two articles present two options for implementing proportional representation in Washington without a constitutional amendment. But if there were a way to add democracy reform to the list of 83 amendments that have made it through the Washington constitutional amendment approval gauntlet, imagine what the Evergreen state could do! It could...Read more » -
How Proportional Representation Could Give Washington Voters More Voice
Voters across North America feel their votes don’t matter and wonder if the system is rigged. This fall, voters in BC will have the chance to upgrade their democracy by switching to proportional representation—a form of voting where more voters have more choices and the legislature more fairly represents the voters. Washington could make the switch to proportional representation, too. The Washington state legislature, like the US Congress and other...Read more » -
The Supreme Court Just Reminded Us—Americans Don’t Have the Right to Vote
On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a stunning but predictable decision in Husted v. Randolph, the case about the state of Ohio purging thousands of voters from the voter rolls. Stunning because it gives state legislatures unprecedented powers to prevent eligible voters from voting. Predictable because, contrary to popular assumption, the US Constitution actually does not guarantee citizens a right to vote. Freedom of speech and...Read more » -
British Columbia’s Surprisingly Reasonable Democracy Revolution